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Warning: Illegal string offset 'Name' in /home/windows/public_html/php/content_lib.php on line 382Moon Questions I - Is the Moon round? Diameter, weight, distance, age of the Moon? - Windows to the Universe

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The full Moon shows itself behind this Mississippi test stand for the second stage of the Saturn V rocket. It's almost as if the Moon is awaiting the completion of the rocket that would boost the Moon's first visitors into space.
Click on image for full sizeCourtesy of NASA

Me and my boyfriend are arguing over whether or not the Moon is round (circular like Earth). I say it is and he says it's not.

What is the diameter of the Moon in Kilometers? By how much is the Earth heavier than the Moon? How far is the Moon from the Earth? How old is the Moon?

What is the internal structure of the Moon?

I was just wondering, is there anyone actually 'buried' on the Moon? I believe I once heard of 3 people who died, but I can't seem to find any articles to prove this to be true.

Well, the Moon is round! So, you win this time! Really big objects like the Moon pull themselves into a sphere (like a ball). Small objects don't do this. So, your computer, your dog and even asteroids aren't big enough to pull their material into a ball.

The diameter of the Moon is 3,474 kilometers. The Earth's mass is 5.98 x 10^24 kilograms while the Moon's mass is 7.35 x 10^22 kilograms. That means the Earth weighs 5.90 x 10^24 more kilograms than the Moon. That means the Earth is just bigger all around! The Moon's average distance from the Earth is 384,467 kilometers. Like the rest of the solar system, the Moon is about 4 billion years old!

Scientists still don't know for sure what the inside of the Moon is like. The Moon does have a top crust which is rocky. Then comes the mantle which is also made of rock. Then there is a part that is partially molten.
In the very middle of the Moon, there could be a small iron core.

No one is buried on the Moon. All of the astronauts who have visited the Moon have returned to Earth! There was a tragedy associated with the Apollo program that you might be thinking of...in 1967, three astronauts were killed because their module caught fire. They were still on the ground practicing for Apollo 1, which would have led the way to the Moon.
Submitted by Fawn, W. Bonetta (England), Jennifer, Megan, Jean (Louisiana, U.S.A.), Parker (California, U.S.A.), Mike
(January 9, 2001)

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